Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is expecting the fight at the front to pick up where it left off when F1 resumes in Spa this week, with no clear favourite to win in Belgium.
The Silver Arrows squad enjoys a ten-point lead over arch-rival Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton heads the drivers' standings from Sebastian Vettel by 24 points, almost the equivalent of a one win lead.
"After five races in six weeks before the summer break, the shutdown came at just the right time," says Wolff in Mercedes' Belgian GP preview.
"It gave us the opportunity to recharge a little and return energised for what will certainly be a hard-fought second half.
"Both the Drivers' and the Constructors' Championship are extremely tight and I expect it to be a close battle all the way through to Abu Dhabi."
Mercedes W09 has performed better at high-speed circuits such as Spa, but while the legendary Ardennes venue is fast, it also requires a fair amount of set-up compromise.
"From a team's perspective, the circuit is quite tricky, as it is not easy to find the right set-up for a track that has long straights, considerable changes in elevation and high-speed corners," explains the Austrian.
"You want to have enough downforce to be quick through the corners, but at the same time not carry too much drag for the long straights."
As has often been the case in 2018, Wolff won't go out on a limb and make any bold predictions about the weekend ahead. He does however admit that Mercedes is raring to get back to business.
"If this season has taught us one thing, it's that there are no clear favourites for specific tracks anymore and that it's not always the fastest car that wins," he adds.
"Instead, the competitive balance seems to swing back and forth from circuit to circuit. What is clear is that our competitors are pushing extremely hard and put up a very tough fight.
"So we need to keep our heads down, work hard to eliminate our weaknesses and further build on our strengths, and take the season race by race.
"2018 promises to be a season that we will still be talking about in years to come and we can't wait to get out there and start racing again."
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